The Football Queensland Premier League 3 - Metro is the first tier of senior soccer in Brisbane, Queensland (fourth tier in Queensland and fifth overall in Australia). It is run and administered by Football Queensland Metro. Formerly known as the Brisbane Premier League the competition was renamed in 2022 with Football Queensland's takeover of the league structure from Football Brisbane. Twelve teams play a twenty-two match regular season, with the team at the top of the table designated as 'Premiers', and the top four teams qualifying for a finals series.
 | |
| Founded | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Country |  Australia |
| Number of teams | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 5 |
| Promotion to | Football Queensland Premier League 2 |
| Relegation to | Football Queensland Premier League 4 − Metro |
| Domestic cup(s) | Canale Cup Australia Cup |
| Current premiers | Bayside United FC |
| Website | Football Queensland Premier League - Metro |
The league premiers earn automatic promotion to the Queensland Premier League 2 (the third-tier league in Queensland from season 2020 onwards), while the second place team participates in a playoff series with the other south east Queensland conference premiers for the second promotion spot. The bottom two teams in the FQPL3 at the end of the season are relegated to the next tier in Brisbane, FQPL4.
Current clubs
editThe teams for Season 2024 are shown in alphabetical order in the table below.[1]
| Team | Home Ground | Location | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acacia Ridge | Ron Proud Field | Acacia Ridge | 1963 |
| Brisbane Knights | Croatian Sports Centre | Rocklea | 1957 |
| Centenary Stormers | Atthows Park | Darra | 2000 |
| Mt Gravatt Hawks | Dittmer Park | Mount Gravatt | 1960 |
| Newmarket FC | McCook Park | Newmarket | 1949 |
| North Brisbane | Prentice Park | Lutwyche | 1957 |
| North Pine | Bob Brock Park | Dakabin | 1974 |
| Springfield United | Springfield Central Sports Complex | Springfield Central | 2008 |
| Redcliffe Dolphines | Talobilla Park | Kippa-Ring | 2010 |
| UQFC | St Lucia Reserve | Kenmore | 1955 |
| Virginia United | Albert Bishop Park | Brisbane | 1970 |
| Western Spirit | Camira Recreation Reserve | Goodna | 2005 |
Honours
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- 1 Challenge Cup held as a knockout competition (see section on Charity Cup competition).
- 2 Ipswich and West Moreton Association competition continued during these seasons.
- 3 Competition restricted to Second and Third Divisions and Junior competitions.
Media
editThe league and its lower divisions are covered by several local newspapers throughout the city, suburbs and surrounding areas including Ipswich and Toowoomba. Highlights of matches, often at least 2 matches per round, in the league are put together by FB Media (the Media arm of Football Brisbane). Live scores and updates from all Brisbane Premier League matches can be found on The Washing Line Facebook page. The Washing Line website also publishes reports, previews and newspaper articles from around the city. The website built upon the Unofficial site YourBPL.com which began media coverage of the league in 2007. From 2012, the newly founded 'FB Media' has been producing weekly podcasts which can be downloaded from The Washing Line website featuring prominent guests including James Meyer, Miron Bleiberg, Matt Mundy and a wide variety of coaches and players from the Brisbane Premier League.Some games are covered by PaulyTV and FBTV.
Media milestones
edit- On Sunday 23 May 2010, a match between Brisbane Wolves and Pine Rivers United became the first BPL match to be streamed live on the internet. Wolves won 5–2.
- On Saturday 11 June 2011, a match between Redlands United and Olympic FC featured on The Danny Baker Show in the UK, on BBC Radio 5 Live. Olympic won 3–2.
- At the end of the 2011 season following the success of Wolves FC, 18 goal centreback Patrick Hopkins was scouted via FBTV match highlights for Ljungskile SK in Sweden. In need of a forward, the league's top scorer Steffen Vroom soon followed.
Sponsors
editFrom 2014 to 2015 the Brisbane Premier League was known as the Trophy Superstore Premier League.
This changed in 2016 when Flight Centre became the league sponsors, thus known as the Flight Centre Premier League.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Awarded as Champions.
References
edit- ^ "Ladder for Brisbane Premier League". mygameday.app. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ "Football Brisbane website: Mens Winners 1884-1933" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ^ "Football Brisbane website: MensWinners 1934-1982" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ^ "Football Brisbane website: MensWinners 1983-2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.